Engaging individuals to plan and to save for their retirement is the most pressing challenge in the current pensions landscape. The decline of defined benefit pensions and the increase in defined contribution pensions is transferring the responsibility for securing an adequate income in retirement from employers to individuals. Yet many individuals do not know what level of savings they need to have an adequate income in retirement.
The UK Government has taken some successful steps to start to address savings issues, through the implementation of Automatic Enrolment. But there are still a number of actions individuals, employers, the pensions and advice industry, and Government could take to improve individuals’ financial capability and help them to understand what an adequate retirement income could look like for them, and how to meet their retirement income goals.
"There has perhaps never been a busier time in UK pensions policy, with changes afoot that touch almost every aspect of a pension scheme’s funding and operation. The IFoA Pensions Board has been at the very centre of the key debates, from the Pensions Schemes Bill and TPR’s new Code of Practice to GMP equalisation and consolidation. Perhaps most importantly, we have raised our voices loud and applied our unique technical expertise, to the critical national issue of Defined Contribution Scheme adequacy, seeking to ensure that people are able to enjoy a comfortable retirement.”
Mark Williams, Chair, Pensions Board
